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What Hurts Most About Ted Cruz's Change of Heart

September 28, 2016
 Radio Clips

The Glenn Beck Program

I wanted to clear up a few things about my perspective on Senator Ted Cruz, our on-air conversation and how the media is covering this.

Ted Cruz is a dear friend and my hope is that we will always be dear friends. He is a tremendous senator for the great state of Texas, and I look forward to voting for him in 2018.

RELATED: Glenn Questions Ted Cruz on What It Means to ‘Vote Your Conscience’

Cruz's endorsement of Donald Trump is his to make, and I really do not begrudge him his choice. I know the senator well, and I know this was not an easy decision for him, nor one he took lightly.

As it relates to my endorsement of Senator Cruz, if you go back to the radio show or the transcript, you will see/hear/read very clearly that I was NOT suggesting that in hindsight I SHOULD have endorsed Senator Rubio. It was far more nuanced than that (and I think far more clear than that). I think the transcript says it all, but just in case --- here is the point I was trying to make.

Ted is one of the most decent men I have ever met. He is objectively brilliant --- even according to the "liberal" professor/lawyer Alan Dershowitz. He comes from a good family that cares about our country and our Constitution. He has a number of amazing qualities as a man and as a senator. But, like all of us, he has his weaknesses.

RELATED: The Gift Ted Cruz Gave Us

As a "politician," he could be better. To many onlookers, he does not come off as approachable or real (though --- and I truly mean it --- he is much different in person). He does not instantly connect with people, especially at a distance. He is eloquent, but in a very academic way. As someone explained to me, if you want someone to argue in front of the Supreme Court, he is as good as it gets. But if you want someone to make your case in front of a jury of your peers, you could probably do better.

In my opinion, Senator Cruz has one quality that very few people in politics have, that for me was and is more important than all else. Principles. When people would make the argument that Senator Cruz is self-interested or self-aggrandizing or a me-first politician, I would argue with them and defend Senator Cruz as a man of supreme principles with no give and a backbone of steel.

RELATED: Those Standing on Principle Are in Good Company

On the other hand, there's Senator Rubio --- a strong conservative, though not AS strong as Cruz. BUT, he is a tremendous politician. He is charismatic, interesting, interested and all those soft qualities that great politicians have.

If I was going to endorse a politician, meaning someone who was conservative/constitutional/libertarian ENOUGH --- AND who had an easier path to the White House, I would have endorsed Senator Rubio (someone I could have easily pulled the lever for --- as well as others, like Senator Paul and others).

But I did not want to endorse a politician. I never have and never will.

I believe(d?) Senator Cruz was different. (I put the "d?" because I do not know nearly enough at this time.) That does NOT mean I don't admire the man. That does NOT mean he's not a great Senator. That does NOT mean he wouldn’t make a great president. And that does NOT mean I wouldn’t vote for him for all of the above. But, once you remove the unshakable and unmovable principles from his quiver, he is a politician --- which is fine, just not someone I would endorse in the primaries, nor campaign for.

As a reminder, I had NEVER before endorsed someone in the primaries. This was a unique experience for me.

The endorsement itself was hard on me for a number of reasons --- and these are MY issues, not the Senator’s and not anyone else’s. I won’t get into all the details on this topic (there is a lot to unpack), but these are my main concerns:

1) Are we to vote our conscience or is it a binary choice?

Cruz's sudden push to vote for Trump seemed like a dramatic shift from his previous "vote your conscience" clause (which is fine, it is his choice). However, I also felt like it was a slap in the face to people like me, who understand the calculus (it is ultimately binary since one of these candidates will be the president), but who reject the premise we HAVE to choose.

Again, this is not Cruz's fault I feel this way, but this is how I feel (and what I projected onto him) and why I reacted as I did.

2) What changed?

From my perspective, nothing has changed since the courageous decision to not endorse Trump at the RNC. Everything the senator has listed as reasons to endorse Trump now were known to him then. I would have been much more comfortable with the change of heart if Cruz said he prayed on it (which I know he did), he and his family forgave Donald Trump (as an aside, did Donald ask for forgiveness?) and #neverhillary. Okay.

I have said for a long time now, I do not know the right answer. I am very comfortable with people like Governor Jindal, Mark Levin and many others saying, "Trump is not a conservative, there is a lot I don’t like about him as a candidate or a possible president, but he is better than Hillary."

RELATED: Glenn: For the First Time, I Heard Ted Cruz Calculate

I am still not comfortable with my choice and might never be. I am sickened that I don’t have someone I am willing --- let alone want --- to vote for.

With all of that said, I do not repudiate nor regret my decision to both endorse and campaign for Senator Cruz. I don’t like where we are today (all of it) and know we would be in a far better position if Senator Cruz was the GOP nominee.

This election has been hard on all of us (on both sides of the aisle and beyond). If Ted and I can’t figure out how to stand together 100% of the time just because we only agree 95% of the time, then the two of us have some work to do --- on ourselves and as friends.

Featured Image Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) (R) speaks to members of the media as radio talk show host Glenn Beck (L) looks on at Morningstar Fellowship Church February 11, 2016 in Fort Mill, South Carolina. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

'They've taken away the symbol of the American flag': Restaurant owner speaks out after being FINED for flying flags on July 4

Terry Trobiani owns Gianelli's Drive Thru in Prairie Grove, Illinois, where he put up a row of American flags for the Fourth of July. But the city claimed he was displaying two of them improperly and issued him a $100 ticket for each flag.

Terry joined Glenn Beck on the radio program Tuesday to explain what he believes really happened. He told Glenn that, according to city ordinance, the American flag is considered "ornamental" and should therefore have been permitted on a federal holiday. But the city has now classified the flag as a "sign."

"Apparently, the village of Prairie Grove has classified the American flag as a sign and they've taken away the symbol of the American flag," Terry said. "So, as a sign, it falls under their temporary sign ordinance, which prohibits any flying, or any positioning of signs on your property — and now this includes the American flag. [...] The only way I could fly the American flag on my property is if I put it on a permanent 20 to 30-foot flagpole, which they have to permit."

Terry went on to explain how the city is now demanding an apology for his actions, and all after more than a year of small-business crushing COVID restrictions and government mandates.

"COVID was tough," Terry stated. "You know, we're in the restaurant business. COVID was tough on us. We succeeded. We made it through. We cut a lot of things, but we never cut an employee. We paid all our employees. I didn't take a paycheck for a year just to keep our employees on, because it was that important to me to keep things going. And, you know, you fight for a year, and you beat a pandemic, and then you have this little municipality with five trustees and a president, who just have no respect for small businesses. And right now, what I see is they have no respect for the republic and the United States ... I think it's terrible. The direction that government, at all levels, have taken us to this point, it's despicable."

Watch the video below to catch more of the conversation:


Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.

North Korean's URGENT warning: THIS is why freedom of speech is so important

The Biden administration is now doing everything it can to censor what it has decided is COVID-19 "misinformation." But Glenn Beck isn't confident that the silencing of voices will stop there.

Yeonmi Park grew up in North Korea, where there is no freedom of speech, and she joined Glenn to warn that America must not let this freedom go.

"Whenever authoritarianism rises, the first thing they go after is freedom of speech," she said.

Watch the video clip below from "The Glenn Beck Podcast" or find the full episode with Yeonmi Park here:

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Critical race theory: The revolution of constant whining

Flickr/GaryStevens

Most self-proclaimed Marxists know very little about Marxism. Some of them have all the buzzwords memorized. They talk about the exploits of labor. They talk about the slavery of capitalist society and the alienation caused by capital. They talk about the evils of power and domination.

But they don't actually believe what they say. Or else they wouldn't be such violent hypocrites. And we're not being dramatic when we say "violent."

For them, Marxism is a political tool that they use to degrade and annoy their political enemies.

They don't actually care about the working class.

Another important thing to remember about Marxists is that they talk about how they want to defend the working class, but they don't actually understand the working class. They definitely don't realize that the working class is composed mostly of so many of the people they hate. Because, here's the thing, they don't actually care about the working class. Or the middle class. They wouldn't have the slightest clue how to actually work, not the way we do. For them, work involves ranting about how work and labor are evil.

Ironically, if their communist utopia actually arrived, they would be the first ones against the wall. Because they have nothing to offer except dissent. They have no practical use and no real connection to reality.

Again ironically, they are the ultimate proof of the success of capitalism. The fact that they can freely call for its demise, in tweets that they send from their capitalistic iPhones, is proof that capitalism affords them tremendous luxuries.

Their specialty is complaining. They are fanatics of a religion that is endlessly cynical.

They sneer at Christianity for promising Heaven in exchange for good deeds on earth — which is a terrible description of Christianity, but it's what they actually believe — and at the same time they criticize Christianity for promising a utopia, they give their unconditional devotion to a religion that promises a utopia.

They are fanatics of a religion that is endlessly cynical.

They think capitalism has turned us into machines. Which is a bad interpretation of Marx's concept of the General Intellect, the idea that humans are the ones who create machines, so humans, not God, are the creators.

They think that the only way to achieve the perfect society is by radically changing and even destroying the current society. It's what they mean when they say things about the "status quo" and "hegemony" and the "established order." They believe that the system is broken and the way to fix it is to destroy, destroy, destroy.

Critical race theory actually takes it a step farther. It tells us that the racist system can never be changed. That racism is the original sin that white people can never overcome. Of course, critical race theorists suggest "alternative institutions," but these "alternative institutions" are basically the same as the ones we have now, only less effective and actually racist.

Marx's violent revolution never happened. Or at least it never succeeded. Marx's followers have had to take a different approach. And now, we are living through the Revolution of Constant Whining.

This post is part of a series on critical race theory. Read the full series here.

Will we EVER see justice in the FBI, Trump, Russia investigation?

Americans are losing faith in our justice system and the idea that legal consequences are applied equally — even to powerful elites in office.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) joined Glenn Beck on the radio program to detail what he believes will come next with the Durham investigation, which hopefully will provide answers to the Obama FBI's alleged attempts to sabotage former President Donald Trump and his campaign years ago.

Rep. Nunes and Glenn assert that we know Trump did NOT collude with Russia, and that several members of the FBI possibly committed huge abuses of power. So, when will we see justice?

Watch the video clip below:


Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.